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Halo 2: Everyone Loves A Good Story - 11/02/2004
Original Source - Last Accessed 07/04/2013. Posted by Will Tuttle of Gamespy on 11/02/2004. Bungie's master storyteller Joe Staten takes us on a journey through the creation of their latest epic. One of the biggest changes in Halo 2 is the emphasis on the storyline. It probably won't make you cry (unless they're tears of joy), but it's sure to make you laugh, get mad, and even maybe even think. As the man behind the words, Joe Staten helps bring a clear voice to all of the characters, motivation for Master Chief, and puts them all together in some crazy situations. So, with that, let's get down to our exclusive interview with Bungie's Joe Staten! GameSpy: I've heard rumors that you were in the CIA. Are you really a spook? Joe Staten: Nope, never been a spook. I applied for a job at the CIA, but they turned me down. Given all that ails the world today, I often think "what if". But, all things considered, I'm happy things turned out the way they did. GameSpy: How did you get into writing for (and directing) games? Do you have a film or theater background? Joe Staten: I graduated from college with a degree in theater and international relations (odd combo, I know), went on to get a graduate degree in IR, and worked in the non-profit sector for a while. Creative writing (plays, screenplays, short-stories, etc.) was something I did to relax my brain when I grew tired of penning policy-prescriptions. I've been playing games since I was a kid, but it wasn't until I was a few years out of grad-school that I considered working in the industry. The Bungie opportunity came along at the right time, and I went for it. GameSpy: What are the differences between writing for film/theater and games? Joe Staten: Very rarely does someone watching a play or a movie leap from his seat, guns blazing, assault the actors, and force the staging, pacing and dramatic flow of the piece to match his idea of a good time. For Halo and most other games, that's par for the course. With respect to writing, the principles are essentially the same from one medium to the next (good writing is good writing), but the interactive nature of games very rarely allows you to write to form. And that's a good thing. When a game's story execution is on the money, we can access our audience's emotions in ways that a playwright or screenwriter could only dream of. GameSpy: When did you start thinking of the plot for Halo 2, and when did you actually start writing it? Joe Staten: On both counts, right after Halo shipped. It took almost two years before the final version of the cinematic script was locked - even more time if you count the mission and combat dialog. GameSpy: Were there things that you wanted to touch on in the original Halo, but didn't have the time, and if so, did they make it into Halo 2? Joe Staten: More Covenant backstory. You'll have to wait until Nov. 9 to see how we handled that. GameSpy: How much of the Halo 2 story ended up on the cutting room floor? Joe Staten: The original version of the cinematic script was over 160 pages which would have given us somewhere around 90 minutes of cinematics. The final version was a little more than 90 pages for about 50 movie minutes (again, this leaves out mission and combat dialog). To be honest, a lot of what got cut should have never been in the script in the first place. But there were a handful of tasty bits that were only dropped from the final draft after the shedding of much blood and tears. But you never know where those ideas might show up next. GameSpy: After playing through the game, it's easy to see that there was a much bigger emphasis placed on the story. Was this something that was planned from the beginning? Joe Staten: Bungie has always prided itself on being a story-driven studio. But we took the linkages between Halo 2's story and its gameplay even more seriously than usual. The two are joined at the hip. It's hard to find an example of a triple-A game in recent years, however, that didn't do the same. GameSpy: When you were writing the game's script, did you want to tie the whole universe together, including stuff that was in the two books? Joe Staten: The books are full of wonderful, complex elements that would be hugely problematic if we included them in Halo 2 in any meaningful way (e.g. the existence of other Spartans). That being said, I did my best to be take the books into account as I wrote, and there are definitely common themes and characters. The opposite is true as well; Eric Nylund and I spoke often as he gathered is thoughts for the third Halo novel, "First Strike." GameSpy: Also in regards to the "Halo universe," who has ultimate control over where and how the storylines intersect? Joe Staten: Bungie. Specifically, myself, Jones, Parsons and our community team. And we're very careful about the opportunities we pursue. GameSpy: It's been said that there are thousands of lines of dialogue this time around. How many would you estimate there are total? Joe Staten: 17,000 give or take. GameSpy: I noticed that there's a ton of battlefield chatter, much more than the last game. Was that done to make the action scenes more immersive? Joe Staten: Halo had around 2,000 lines of combat-dialog, Halo 2 over 14,000 for about the same number of AI actors. This not only makes fighting with your AI buddies more satisfying, but helps keep the post-combat interesting as well (i.e. no more awkward silences). This time around, it's even more rewarding to keep your AI backup alive and talkative. GameSpy: There are a lot of celebrity voices in Halo 2, in both major and minor roles. Did you have those particular people in mind when you were writing the dialogue? Joe Staten: For the most part, we cast fans of Halo -- people who had actually played the game, and wanted to be part of Halo 2's cast. Some of these folks happened to be celebrities, but they were all very talented actors. There's a character in Halo 2 called the "Prophet of Truth." Without revealing the actor who plays the role, let me just say my ability to write good dialog for Truth had a great deal to do with the fact that I could anticipate the deftness of that particular actor's performance. GameSpy: It seems like there's a bit of humor in this game, and Master Chief even has a few one liners. Was this a conscious addition? Joe Staten: Only a bit? Try swapping-weapons with your Marine cohorts, and see what they say -- especially if you trade something crap for something sweet (e.g. a plasma-pistol for a sniper-rifle). This is just one example -- humor is all over the place in Halo 2. It's a critical part of our characters' (AI or otherwise) believability and likeability. GameSpy: The cutscenes are all rendered in the game's engine. Why did you choose to do that, as opposed to FMV? Joe Staten: Two main reasons: immersion and flexibility. Working in-engine allows us to keep our story visually connected to the game world as well as react quickly to changes of plan (i.e. the last minute cutting or shortening of levels). Both are near-impossible to do as far as CGI is concerned. GameSpy: Although multiplayer doesn't continue the story, it seems like each level has its own back-story. Is that your doing? Joe Staten: My only real contribution to the design of the multiplayer maps was a little writing for their' UI descriptions and a lot of whining that they had too few cherry sniper-spots (yes, I'm one of those players). We all wanted to make sure the multiplayer maps were reminiscent of Halo 2 locales and, therefore, rooted in the single-player fiction, but the success of that effort is all the multiplayer team's doing. GameSpy: Do people at Bungie use your "Take it!" quote from E3 2004 during multiplayer matches? Joe Staten: The popularity of "take it" in all-Bungie matches is rivaled only by that of "how'd that feel?!" The addition of the interjection "uhn!" and/or the indirect object "bitch" is common in either case, but entirely optional. GameSpy: What's the best video game storyline in history? Joe Staten: Many games have had good, compelling stories and characters, but few have connected with me on an emotional level as expertly as ICO. There's not much in the way of dialog, but ICO's fiction (and the characters and the events that spring from it) is terrific, moving stuff. Category:Interviews Category:Joseph Staten Interviews Category:Fiction Category:Era: Halo Combat Evolved